Super PAC trickle down?

House leaders have jumped onto the super PAC bandwagon, but that doesn’t mean members of Congress are counting on a windfall.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, supported by House Republican leaders, launched Thursday. It’s the latest in a crop of new Congress-focused spending committees supported by party leaders that can raise unlimited cash and spend on political advertising in an individual race, though it may not coordinate directly with a candidate.

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The effect can make or break a campaign. And the new group’s chairman, former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, expects Republican leadership support of the super PAC to buoy its fundraising, which he says will be significant ahead of 2012.

“The reality of politics today is that third-party efforts are going to have some impact, we’re clearly there with commitment to support the candidates who promote center-right values in the House,” Coleman said.

He added that though the PAC can’t coordinate with party committees or candidates, “ they can clearly send a strong signal, trust in this particular group and the leadership we have.”

Though leaders are eager to sign onto the new fundraising, lawmakers and fundraisers by and large say the new landscape won’t change how individual members of Congress engage in day-to-day fundraising efforts. They simply can’t count on super PAC money to come their way.

“Definitely, if you are in leadership, or whatever, you will be able to raise a lot more money,” Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) said. “You can’t solicit the funds, but after you leave the room someone else can. It does give some of the leadership [more power], whether it’s Pelosi, Boehner, Steny [Hoyer] or whatever. And they’ll use that to definitely work in some of the races.”

“I don’t know that it really equates to power,” he added, “but it definitely would probably give you some influence, you know, over some of the candidates, or whoever that you want to support.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in an interview that he isn’t planning to rely on the super PAC money to keep his seat next year.

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Connolly said. “That’s really rolling the dice there, that I don’t have to do anything, somebody will take care of me. I think that’s always a dicey proposition in politics.”